Amir H. Payberah - 2025-12-10

Through Minna Ruckenstein's work, I learned about "friction theory", a perspective that explains how small disruptions in a smooth process help us understand systems and relationships. It highlights how moments of interruption, mismatch, or resistance reveal the hidden workings of a system by slowing our pace and prompting us to think.

This idea reminds me of "The Missing Piece" by Shel Silverstein, the story of a circle that rolls slowly because it is incomplete. Its slow pace allows it to see the flowers, the worms, the sunlight, and all the small details of the world. But once it finds its missing piece and becomes "perfect", it rolls so quickly that it can no longer take in what is around it. It stops seeing the world.

For me, friction works in the same way. It is like the circle's missing piece, something that interrupts our routine and helps us see what is around us. These moments of slowing down help us truly see our surroundings, the people, our emotions, the presence of kindness, the nature and animals, and finally ourselves.